Let Schools in England know they are required by law to have a medical conditions policy.

My daughter Jenny has Type 1 diabetes. That means by law her school should have had a long-term medical conditions policy in place to protect her and other children with long term conditions, like ME (chronic fatigue syndrome), asthma, arthritis, coeliac disease, epilepsy, migraine and many more.

But after Jenny had a major problem at school recently, I found out they didn’t.

That’s why I am asking the Minister for Children and Families Edward Timpson to make sure every school has a long-term medical conditions policy in place to support and protect children like Jenny.

Jenny was out doing her cycling proficiency when she had a massive hypoglycaemic episode. No-one had made sure she had her test kit or any glucose with her. She was made to walk back to school where it took her 40 minutes to recover. I’ve spent the last few weeks asking other schools in my area what support they offer.

Disappointingly, no schools I spoke to had a long-term medical conditions policy in place. In England, this is actually a breach of the law, but more importantly it risks children’s lives. This serious threat to my daughter’s health could have been avoided if a medical conditions policy had been in place and was being properly followed.

That’s why I want the Minister Edward Timpson to write to every school in England, to remind them that they have a legal responsibility to have a medical conditions policy. And to make sure that these policies are actually being followed, he should ask school regulator Ofsted to look at this during their inspections.

Making sure schools get this right will help children with serious medical conditions thrive in school, and could save a life.

Please sign and ask the Minister to take action now to ensure schools are ready and able to help all children with long-term medical conditions.

To find out more about what schools should be doing to keep children like Jenny safe, please visit the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance website. Here you can download free template Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs). All children with a long-term medical condition should have an IHP. If you take these to your child’s school you can ask them to work with you to complete the plan. The link is: http://medicalconditionsatschool.org.uk/

This petition will be delivered to:

Minister of state for children and familiesRobert Goodwill MP

Letter to

Minister of state for children and familiesRobert Goodwill MP

Raise awareness that every school has to by law have a Medical Needs Policy implemented